Category: DIY Book Shelf

DIY Wooden Crate Bookshelf

Initially I bought two wood crates from Target as props for my sister’s baby shower. After the shower was over I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with the crates especially since they said “Welcome baby girl” on them. Then I saw an idea for a book shelf made out of the same crates on Pinterest and it was a no brainer that I was going to do this project.

What You’ll Need:

Two Wood Crates

Plaid Apple Barrel White Acrylic Paint

Thick Paint Brush

Plaid Apple Barrel Acapulco Acrylic Paint

Thin Paint Brush

Double Heart Chalkboard Stencil

For the baby shower, I initially painted the crates white; then used the double heart stencil for the sides of the crate. Of course, if your doing just the book shelf you don’t have to add the decal.

Step I:

Buy the crates, they are available at any arts and crafts store, as well as Target & Walmart. They can be expensive, I bought mine for $13.00 a piece.

Next, paint the crates. I used the Apple Barrel White Acrylic Paint, though now that I’m familiar with spray paint I would definitely suggest using the spray paint instead. It’s not as time consuming and would make less of a mess. I had a lot of paint drips on my floor.

Let your paint dry and add extra coats if needed.

Step II:

I used a thin paint brush and a chalk board double heart stencil as well as Apple Barrel Acapulco Acrylic Paint to make the double hearts on the side of the crates(Again, I did this part for the baby shower, it’s not necessary for your book shelf; but you could use another stencil to add to the side of the crates to coordinate with the theme in your room).

Let your paint decal dry.

Step III:

Once all the paint is dry, stack the two crates on top of one another. I would suggest that if you’re going to do more than two crates then you should secure the crates together so they don’t topple over. What’s great about this project is you can make it as large or as small as you want. Two crates, four crates, eight crates; a whole wall full of crates (Vertical or horizontal), depending on how much storage space you need.

Step IV:

Fill your book shelf. You don’t necessarily have to fill it with books.

This is a perfect place to store all my Shutterfly albums as well as precious mementos.

Making your own book shelf is so much easier and way more awesome than buying one in the store.